Episode 906 - 12 Chefs Compete
The sixth episode of Season 9 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on FOX on August 2, 2011. On that episode, Hell's Kitchen hosted a High School reunion, one team crushed the other during the challenge, and one chef made a very passionate plea despite having their worst night ever. Intro While going back to the dorms, Jamie told Elise that now, it was time for the latter to learn how to mouth and not mouth, and Elise promised to work on her attitude as she was becoming humbler. While Elise was relieved to be safe again, Jamie found if offensive how the former was open about it as it was the opposite of being happy, with an annoyed Jennifer feeling that there was nothing for Elise to be happy about since not only did they lose the service, but Gina was sent home without even having a chance to defend herself, and told Elise to shut up. Team challenge The next day, both teams came downstairs as Ramsay declared it a new day for them because, for the first time ever, Hell’s Kitchen was hosting a high school reunion, and while Jamie wished she could go back to that time, Paul felt that college for him was better than high school. For the 20 Year Reunion Planning Challenge, the chefs would be catering for Culver City High School class of 1991, and in order to see what the chefs would be cooking, Ramsay called up Paul and Elizabeth from their teams to join him in his office for a private meeting. Although Carrie got concerned as she deemed Elizabeth a space cadet, Will had total faith in Paul. In Ramsay’s office, Paul and Elizabeth met with the reunion committee, who discussed with them about what they would like for dinner with the main theme being Hawaiian, pork and scallops as the featured proteins, and one of the committee members mentioned that she was pescatarian and did not eat meat. While Elizabeth had never cooked with Hawaiian food before, she felt she could even it out with Asian flavors as she thought they were the same and asked the committee if a surf and turf dish was acceptable. However, that stunned the committee, and Paul said that Elizabeth was in la la land. After the meeting, Paul and Elizabeth rejoined their teams, and Ramsay gave the chefs 45 minutes to cook their dishes. From the start, Elizabeth gave the red team incorrect information by telling them to focus on Asian cuisines instead of the requested Hawaiian theme, and even suggested to make bacon wrapped scallops. However, Jamie grew concerned when Elizabeth mentioned lentils, an ingredient that was not common in Asian cuisines, and wondered if the latter got the right information. In the blue kitchen, Paul gave out his teammates the right information that was provided, even warning them about the pescatarian women after Will suggested a surf and turf dish. After, both teams began cooking their dishes which consisted of an appetizer, a meat entrée, and a seafood entrée. However, Paul had to direct Monterray on making a chutney for the meat dish and complained that the former should have paid attention to his explanations. In the red kitchen, Carrie decided to go her own route the tuna, even ignoring Jennifer’s suggestions on using lime zest, with the latter not feeling confident working with a person she deemed a bimbo. Near the end of the cooking, Elise accidentally dropped a scallop on the ground, leaving her and Jamie with only four pieces to present. Eventually, both teams got their dishes cooked and plated on time. The reunion committee came to help Ramsay judge the dishes, but when he announced that the theme of the dishes was Hawaiian, it shocked the red team as Elizabeth failed to say that, distressing Elise, and making Jamie fear that they were going to look like idiots. The appetizer round was up first, Natalie and Carrie presented the dishes, and the former presented her ahi tuna and poke on top of toasted crostini. The dish was praised for having a perfect bite and having a great consistency of the tuna. Then, Carrie presented her ahi tuna tartare with avocado mousse mixed with chilis, but while it was praised for the taste of the tuna, it was criticized for having an overpowering guacamole, along with the odd combination of the two. However, Carrie blurted out that she could adjust it to their likings next time, only for Ramsay to sternly warn her not speak over the judges when they were giving out constructive feedback, annoying Krupa as Carrie had to learn how to shut the fuck up. Natalie won that round, the blue team led 1-0, and Carrie was dismayed to have lost over a crostini. On the beef entrée round, Krupa’s nut crusted pork loin with lentils and blanched bok chow, while praised for being delicious, was not a Hawaiian dish that they were looking for, with even Ramsay commenting that lentils were not common for Hawaiian food. For Monterray, his roasted tenderloin with mango pineapple chutney, despite Paul’s concern, was questioned for the light presentation, but praised for the taste with the committee feeling that the small portions were worth it. After, Monterray won that round, and with the score being 2-0, the blue team automatically won the challenge, and while Jamie expressed frustration over losing another challenge, Ramsay jokingly told Monterray that he cooked better due to there being women in front of him. However, even though the blue team won the challenge, the fish entrée round was still on as Elise and Will presented their dishes. Elise’s barbecue seared scallops with barbecue aioli and bacon immediately drew a red flag as the pescatarian judge could not eat the dish, Ramsay called out Elizabeth for not mentioning that to the red team before, and she thought they could mix fish and meat together, angering Elise, Jennifer, and Jamie. The dish itself was criticized for being lackluster, too much barbecue flavors, and being undercooked. After, Will’s banana leafed steamed opa with a coconut chili wine sauce was heavily praised for tasting delicious, looking pretty, and made the committee want more as it took their palates on a journey. As such, Will easily won that round, and the blue team ended the challenge in a 3-0 shutout, with an annoyed Carrie complaining about losing the challenges, and an angry Elise accusing Elizabeth for wearing earplugs during the meeting and made the red team look like idiots with the wrong information. After the committee left, Ramsay praised Paul for his perfect briefing, and he was happy to have led the blue team in a clean sweep. Reward The blue team was rewarded with a day aboard a super yacht, and Monterray said that he had fireworks going off inside him after hearing that. During the reward, the blue team relaxed in the hot tub, with Natalie feeling like a movie star, and felt that she was bringing the men together, before Paul took a picture of her butt as she was leaving the hot tub. Punishment The red team was punished by decorating the dining room for reunion dinner service the following night and clean up both kitchens. During the punishment, Elise angrily confronted Elizabeth for giving them the wrong information, but while the latter claimed that she heard the committee say Asian food, Elise also brought up the bacon incident, and how they did not know one of the women was a pescatarian. However, Elizabeth refused to take the full blame as none of her teammates scored points against the blue team, and reminded Elise on how the scallops were undercooked, with the latter calling the former a bitch in response. Later, Elise did not help on carrying the tables or plants due their supposed weight, annoying both Carrie and Jennifer. After, they were making Hawaiian leis, with Elizabeth up to 19, when the blue team came back from their reward as Jonathon decided to rub in their defeat. Before service Back at the dorms, a drunk Natalie stumbled drunk into the water pool before Jonathon took pictures of her, as Will commented that she deserved it for helping the blue team out. As Natalie modeled, she revealed to Jonathon that she used to be a model for a while. The next day, both teams were up early to begin prepping for the 20th Reunion service, but because of the reward, the blue team was sluggish and slow while prepping. In the red kitchen, Jennifer and Elizabeth were putting the final touches on their final punishment, making a three-layered cake for the reunion, but Jennifer had no idea how to do it with a big cake. As Jennifer, Elizabeth, and Elise struggled to get it put together, Carrie lamented that it would be the worst cake ever as she felt none of them were taking it seriously. However, Elise accused Carrie of trying make them look like they did not care at all, and that led to another argument between the two, with Jamie point out the irony of their situation, comparing Elise and Carrie to two high school girls who wanted to rip out each other’s hair. With the cake in poor shape, the red team tried their best to cover it up with flowers. Later that night, Ramsay had both teams lined up, reminded them about the reunion dinner service, and praised the red team for the work on decorating the restaurant. But, when Krupa and Elise brought out the cake, Ramsay was shocked at how ugly it looked, and asked if any of them vomited over the cake. After Ramsay called it a Mexican sombrero that went wrong with shit on top, Paul jokingly said ole in response, and Sous Chef Scott took the cake away. After Ramsay hoped that the red team did a better job at prepping the blue team’s dishes than on the cake, he asked James to open Hell’s Kitchen, before calling him ridiculous for wearing a Hawaiian lei. Dinner Service The blue team received their first order, with Paul confident in his teams’ skills as they knew the dishes very well. At the same time, the red team received their first order, but they were confused as to what ingredients were needed for what dish as Jennifer knew that the blue team had the advantage with the challenge winning dishes, before expressing fear on her teammate’s ability. In the blue kitchen, all seemed well as Natalie and Monterray communicated on appetizers, and the blue team were pushing out food at a strong pace. In the red kitchen, Carrie sent up her salads despite Krupa not ready on her potstickers, and a frustrated Ramsay asked why they did not send up the appetizers together, with Elise accusing Carrie of being a rookie for making Krupa look bad. After, Ramsay gave Carrie back the salad and ordered the red team to start the ticket over. One hour into dinner service, the blue team has moved onto entrées. However, Paul sent up a raw snapper, which shocked Ramsay as he never expected that from the former and was angrier that it was on the first order of entrées. Paul admitted that it was all his fault, and after the blue team was forced to restart, Will told his teammates to pick it up. In the red kitchen, the red team was still struggling on appetizers, and even struggled to callback the next order. That caused a frustrated Ramsay to demand a leader from them, and Elise took the lead as she knew how to use her big mouth. Thanks to Elise, the red team’s first table of appetizers was sent out. In the blue kitchen, Monterray decided to help Natalie on garnish, but put some broccolini into a cold pan, with Ramsay lecturing him that it would come out greasy and mushy. Then, Monterray accidentally put the broccolini into the trash, much to his embarrassment, and Ramsay ordered him to use his brain. In the red kitchen, the red team was moving onto entrées, but despite Carrie deciding to help Krupa out on garnish, she put old rice into a freshly cooked pan of rice. That angered Ramsay, berated Carrie for trying to cut corners, and Elise felt that he finally saw Carrie as the weakest chef on the red team, before the latter dumped the pan of rice out. In the blue kitchen, Paul was late on the snapper, and when he did send it up, it was raw, angering Ramsay as that was meant for the committee’s table. That caused Jonathon to accuse Paul of crashing like the titanic, and after, Ramsay removed Paul from fish in the place of Jonathon and Monterray. In the red team, Elizabeth wanted to redeem herself after being responsible for the disastrous challenge, and got her snapper accepted. Two hours into dinner service. And while the red team’s diners were enjoying their food, the reunion committee’s table has yet to get the blue team’s entrées, and Jonathon was not helping Monterray out, much to the latter’s annoyance. Despite the confidence, Monterray’s snapper came out raw, and afterwards, a pissed off Ramsay berated Paul for screwing them up from the start, and Monterray for walking away when Ramsay wanted the blue team to see their mistake. That served to be the final straw for Ramsay, and kicked the blue team out of the kitchen, despite Jonathon asking if a few of them could stay and do something. As the blue team headed back to the dorms, Ramsay informed the red team it was their responsibility to sweep up the blue team’s shit performance. That led Carrie to believe that the red team won by default, and they were able to serve the committee’s table. Back at the dorms, a pissed Jonathon told Monterray that it was his time to go home, but the latter argued that the former hid at desserts when Ramsay asked them to take over fish and did not even cook anything. Back at the dining room, the red team completed both kitchens orders, and as a surprise for the guests, Ramsay gave them a luau show. Post-mortem Back at the dorms, Jonathon and Monterray were still arguing with each other, with the latter itching to hit the former. Elimination When the blue team came down for elimination, Natalie announced Monterray as the first nominee for elimination, and Paul as the second. Ramsay agreed with the choices, but when Monterray and Paul came down to the front, the former decided to call down Jonathon as well. During their pleas, Ramsay deemed Paul’s performance his worst one yet, and the latter admitted that he ruined what was supposed to be an amazing night for the guests but argued that he was not done yet. Despite Ramsay reminding him how he backed up the fish station, Paul admitted that he was disappointed in his performance, but still had determination and was not done yet. After, Ramsay sent Paul back in line, and asked Jonathon if he was a better chef than Monterray. Jonathon said that he was due to his strong communication skills, but Monterray argued that he had more experience than the former. In the end, Monterray was eliminated for his string of poor performances, and failing to keep the fish station afloat after Paul’s poor performance, but Ramsay praised him for his effort. When Monterray left, the blue team gave him a standing ovation, but during his exit interview, he argued that Jonathon should have gone home for not accomplishing anything since the competition began, and if standing in the corner was the key to winning Hell’s Kitchen, then he should have done that from the start. After Monterray left, Ramsay reminded the chefs that it did not matter what they accomplished outside the restaurant as he was more focused on what happened during the competition. While being dismissed, Jonathon was happy to be saved over Monterray, Elise claimed that the prize was her to win, and Paul was ready to forget about that night and focus on the next day. Ramsay's comment: "It was high school reunion night in Hell's Kitchen. Unfortunately, for Monterray, he flunked the test." Category:Season 9 Category:Episodes